St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-07-02
CLOVER AS MANURE.

A Semi Scientific Dissertation ON tho Fer
tilisinG Properties OF the Plant.
Much has been said lately on the fer.
tilizing properties Of clover. Some
contend that when plowed under it will
add to the fertility, keep it in heart,
etc, while others contend that it does
not add to the fertility and can not
enrich land permanently. Both are
partly right and wrong. Let us see If
we can not come at the truth of the
matter.
Green clover is made up Of water.
starch. woody fiber, sugar, albumen.
extractive matter. gum, fatty matter
and phosphate of lime. Expressed in
elements more familiar. perhaps. they
are phosphoric acid. sulphuric acid.
carbonic acid, silica. lime, magnesia,
potash. soda, chlorine and iron. Dried
clover has similar constituents. though
they vary in proportion. These anal.
Uses are of the tops. The roots surpass
in richness.
From whence do these ingredients
come? All plant food comes from soil
and atmosphere. about five per cent.
from the former and nearly ninety-five
per cent. from the latter. The first are
organic. the second inorganic. Carbon.
as carbonic acid. enters vegetation
through leaves. bark. etc. Hydrogen
comes through water-rains and dews;
oxygen in rains and nitrogen from air
and soil. Plants vary as To amount Of
food derived from soil and air. To-
bacco extracts about ten per cent. from
the soil; rice. clover and many grasse.
not over three per cent
The question then as to clover adding
fertility to the soil resolves itself into
this: Of what value to land are carbon,
oxygen. hydrogen and nitrogen? The
fourteen elements we have named are
all requisite for the perfect develop
ment Of plants. They must all be in
proper proportions. Let one he absent
and the plant is impaired in its growth.
Carbon in its combinations is Of
great value to soil. Uncombined it is
valueless. Its compounds are moro
numerous than those Of any other ele-
ment. Combined with oxygen it forms
carbonic acid. Of prime Importance to
plant nutrition. Soil water always holds
it in solution. thus becoming powerful
solvent. dissolving many substances
which nothing else will. render
ing them plant food. There are
twenty-cight tons of it in the
air over one acre Of ground. so science
SAYS. In the carbonates it is very
valuable. 1t forms the chief bulk Of all
vegetation. Manures abound in it. We
thus see its prominent position and inn
portance. It is absorbed by plants
through the leaves and bark, As carbonic
acid. 1t is taken up by the roots.
Clover feeds upon it, oxygen going of
as gas, and the carbon forming new
combinations with hydrogen. making
gum. starch. albumen, casein. etc. Ex-
posed tn the air these substances lose
their carbon, it passing of Is carbOnic
acid gas II vegetable substances are
covered with earth the carbon remains.
finely divided. becoming vegetable
mold. The mineral substances are also
retained in the soil. Carbon is the best
absorbent Of gases. and absorbs and
condenses watery vapor abundantly.
As vegetable mold mixed with clay. it
makes clay loan. the best Of absorbents.
Water is a manure. Rain brings with
4 powerful combinations of nitrogen.
Oxygen is, also. essential to vegetable
life, and is the great agent OF decay. It
unites with organic matter in the soil.
forming new combinations that become
plant food. Without it neither animals
nor plants could live. A large part Of
the food Of plants floats in the air and
is brought down by rains. SHOWS. etc.
Flint says the superiority Of clover ~ .
green manure lies in the vast amount Of
water it contains. Clover is trap TOR
these organic elements in the air, not
the soil.-Cns. Ohio Farmer.